Self-reversing top



Jan. 25, 1955 w. QSTBERG 2,700,246

SELF-REVERSING TOP Filed NOV. 1, 1950 6 5 9 v 6 r mm W IN VENTOR United States Patent SELF-REVERSING TOP Werner Qistberg, Copenhagen, Denmark Application November 1, 1950, Serial No. 193,493

1 Claim. (Cl. 46-64) This invention relates to toy tops and more particularly to that kind of top which is automatically inverted when started to spin in upright position so as to finally spin upon the end of its handle.

It is an object of this invention to provide a toy top of the kind referred to which is simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture. Another object of the invention is to provide an automatically reversing top having evenly distributed weight with reference to its vertical axis in all sections so that no balancing of such weight is needed when making the top. A further object of the invention is to provide an automatically reversing toy top which is suitable for being manufactured by a simple turning or molding process thanks to its regular structure.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent as this specification proceeds, reference being now had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an axial section of one form of a pegtop in accordance with this invention,

Figures 2-7 illustrate the movements of the pegtop during spinning, and

Fig. 8 is an axial section of another, preferred form of the pegtop according to the invention.

In the form shown in Fig. 1, the pegtop comprises a solid body 1 having a relatively deep and wide recess 3, projecting from the bottom of which is an integral peg 5 extending beyond the circumference of the body and surrounded by a disc 7 closing the mouth 2 of the recess 3. The recess 3 is such that the center of gravity 6 of the assembly 1, 5, 7 is slightly spaced from the geometrical center of the body 1 in a downward direction in Fig. 1 so that the pegtop, when at rest, will assume the position shown in Fig. 2.

If the pegtop is now caused to spin upon a horizontal surface 9, the stud 5 being used as a thumb knob, in the position indicated in Fig. 2, the point of contact between the pegtop and the surface 9 will usually not coincide with the axis of rotation of the top and, therefore, the friction will cause the peg 5 to swirl through larger and larger circles until it contacts the surface 9 with its free end 8, as indicated in Figures 3-5, and finally the top will raise itself upon the peg, as illustrated in Fig. 6, to rotate in an inverted position upon the tip of the peg,

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as illustrated in Fig. 7. In this position it remains until it has lost its speed, when it returns to the position indicated in Fig. 2. top on the peg 5, the latter is cylindrical and has a flat end face 8.

The body 1 may, as illustrated in Figures 2-7, be painted or dyed in different colors arranged in circumferential zones at right angles to the axis of the peg 5, whereby an amusing play of colors is obtained, as the top spins. At first the top, spinning in the position shown in Fig. 2, displays two distinct colors, but gradually the upper color decreases to a small spot surrounded by a ring of mixed color composed of the two basic colors. When the peg 5 has reached a horizontal position, this spot completely disappears and is replaced by a constantly increasing spot of the lower color, until the top has attained the position shown in Fig. 7, when it will again display two distinct colors.

In the form shown in Fig. 8, the top comprises an upper shell 10 having a flat 12 and a hollow, integral peg 13 projecting at right angles therefrom. The shell 10 is cemented with its edge or rim to the rim of a hemispherical shell 11 so that the assembly constitutes a substantially ball-shaped body of like configuration to that shown in Fig. 1. The two shells may be different colors. The shell 11 is, at its bottom, formed with an internal thickening 14 constituting a counter-weight to counterbalance the peg 13 in such a manner that the common center of gravity of the assembly is slightly below the geometrical center of the ball 10, 11.

I claim:

An automatically reversing toy top comprising in combination a spherical body having a spherical segment of substantially less height than the radius of the body out oif therefrom so as to form a flat circular surface on said body, a pivot pin handle having a diameter substantially less than the diameter of said circular surface and projecting centrally from said circular'surface in a radial direction relatively to said spherical body, said handle having a flat outer end parallel to the plane of said circular surface and located at a distance therefrom substantially exceeding the height of the cut off spherical segment so that an imaginary line from the edge of said flat outer end of said handle to the circumference of said spherical body is a tangent to the spherical surface of the latter, and means slightly displacing the centre of gravity of the top from the geometrical centre of said spherical body towards a point on the surface thereof diametrically opposed to said handle, the weight of the body being uniformly distributed about an axis passing coaxially through the geometric center of said body.

Dailey Oct. 4, 1927 Dailey Oct. 26, 1943 In order to stabilize spinning of the 

